We chat with author Virginia Heath about All’s Fair in Love and War, which follows a governess who believes in cultivating joy in her charges, clashes with the children’s uncle who hired her, only to find herself falling in love.
Hi, Virginia! Welcome back! How have the past three years been since we last spoke?
The last three years have been marvellous! My entire Merriwell Sisters series has been published and has been very well received by readers. It so cool finding myself on the shelves of every major bookshop in the US!
Your latest novel, All’s Fair in Love and War, is out May 28th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
[A] Funny, flirty, Bridgertoneqsque Regency Romp
What can readers expect?
A Sound of Music meets Pride and Prejudice enemies to lovers story involving a bohemian governess, a stickler for the rules former naval captain, his three unruly nieces and nephews and their giant mad dog,
Where did the inspiration for All’s Fair in Love and War come from?
I’m never quite sure where my ideas come from because they seem to just canter over the horizon towards me out of the blue. However, I suspect my many years of teaching teenagers history in a London school and my lifelong love affair with Mr Darcy have a great deal to do with the inspiration for All’s Fair. The hero has definite Mr Darcy vibes and there is a version of Colin Firth’s iconic wet shirt scene in the book and the heroine teaches her charges an awful lot like I used to—using her humour and storytelling abilities to engage them rather than trying to rule her classroom by fear. And, of course, when it comes to dealing with children, they are reliably unpredictable and entertaining. Those experiences definitely inspired some of the scenes in this story too.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I tend to fall head over heels with my hero and heroine in every book I write, but I often find that there is great fun to be had with the side characters too. In All’s Fair in Love and War, my absolute favourite character to write was the giant, untrainable family diva-dog Norbert. As a dog oner myself, I know for a fact that every canine has its own distinctive personality and Norbert, it turned out, liked to create chaos wherever possible.
All’s Fair in Love and War is only the start of Miss Prentice’s Protegees series. Can you give us a little tease as to what may come next?
The series is based around four friends who all meet at Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies where they are training to be governesses and ladies companions. The teaching ethos of their mentor, Miss Prentice, is the Four Ds—duty, decorum, discretion and diligence—and each of the friends struggles with one of those edicts. Being brought up by a strict militarian stepfather, Georgie chafes against uncompromising duty in the first book All’s Fair in Love and War. For wild tomboy Lottie, in the 2nd instalment Look Before You Leap, decorum is her nemesis. She’s Calamity Jane in the strict confines of Regency society and it’s a grumpy sunshine story as the hero has withdrawn from the world. Portia, the heroine in book three, is a social campaigner and the sort of political radical who believes in votes for women, so she is destined to be a lousy social secretary for a respected duke who has hired her and cares too much for his family’s reputation. And then book four will focus on the daydreaming Kitty who struggles with being diligent in anything because her mind constantly wanders to the stories she makes up in her head. There might be a bit of me in her too in that respect!
What do you love about writing within the romance genre?
I adore a HEA and that is the crux of a good romance. No matter what trials and tribulations you fling at your characters, and I like to throw everything including the kitchen sink at mine, you know when you pick up the book that they will get there in the end. The world is too depressing a place sometimes for misery lit, so, as my social media bio says, I am an unashamed purveyor of happily ever afters.
With you debut having published eight years ago, what are some of the key lessons you’ve learned as writer?
That being an author, while it’s the best job in the world when it is going right, is also hard work sometimes. I have never been able to plot so I frequently write myself into a corner or take the wrong path, and then have to do a complete about turn, delete huge chunks and fix things. I’ve also learned that the imposter syndrome I had when my debut was published only gets worse over time. With each book I am convinced that this will be the one where I get found out and my complete lack of talent will be exposed and my writing career will grind to a shuddering halt—but I’ve learned to embrace it. I figure its just my odd brain constantly pushing me to be better but it takes a special sort of tenacious masochist to do that day after day, week after week and year after year. Writing is a solitary profession where you tend to live in your own head for huge swathes of time but one of the greatest joys in it is the supportiveness of the writing community. Nobody gets a writer like another writer and the biggest lesson I have learned since I started is to surround yourself with people who will lift you when you’ve lost the plot and cheer you on tirelessly when you’ve found it.
What’s next for you?
Obviously three more Miss Prentice’s Protegees for St Martin’s Press which will keep me busy till 2026. I’m also squeezing a contemporary romcom into the mix because I’ve had this nagging idea buzzing around my head for a year now and it has to come out! Hopefully, someone will publish it once its finished, so watch this space!
Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?
I’m a huge Ali Hazelwood fan so I can’t wait for Not in Love to come out in June. I’m also itching to read Amalie Howard’s The Worst Duke in London which releases in September.
You can find Virginia on Instagram, Facebook, and at her website.
